After Six Years, a Microchip Reunites a Dog and Her Family

If you were looking for a good argument for why you should microchip your dogs, here it is. Thanks to a microchip, a family in Lumber Bridge, North Carolina, has been reunited with their beloved Labrador Retriever, Molly, six years after she disappeared from their back yard, according to a report in the Fayetteville Observer.

Jeffrey and Karen Lott say that Molly and Tex, a Boxer mix who wasn't microchipped, disappeared in 2007. They were both in a fenced back yard, and the Lotts never knew what happened to either.

But last week, a young man brought a black Lab in to the Cumberland County Animal Control. He was surrendering her to be euthanized. The dog belonged to his parents, he said. She was old and suffering from arthritis, and his parents didn't have the money to treat her.

As a matter of routine, the staff members scanned the Lab for a microchip, which turned up a phone number in the database of HomeAgain. As a courtesy, they called the Lott family to let them know that the dog was going to be euthanized. Jeffrey Lott's response was immediate and definitive: "We said, 'No. Do not euthanize that dog. I'll be there in an hour.'"

And within an hour, they were at animal control, face-to-face with one of the dogs that had disappeared so long ago. Molly was much older, had a bad case of fleas, and weighed about 20 pounds less than when they had last seen her. But it was her.

There was no reason for the Lotts to believe that they would ever see Molly again. Labs generally live to be about 10 to 12 years old. Molly is now 14 and a half.

"We had kind of given up on her," Jeffrey Lott told the Fayetteville Observer, a local paper. "We kind of assumed she died of old age."

Molly may not have very long left, but last week her lifespan was being measured off in hours -- days at most. Now, she'll have weeks, months, maybe even years, with a family who has missed her and loves her.

"There was no second thoughts about taking her home," Lott said. "She can come home and be with us however long she has."

The Lotts were in need of some good news, frankly. Like many people, Jeffrey Lott was laid off last month, and worries have just been piling up since then.

"Things were in a downward spiral," he told the Observer. But then, something comes along to bring things in perspective."